Disclaimer: See first chapter

Author's Note: Thank you to those who reviewed.

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Roxton released Marguerite and she took a few steps back, but didn't leave the room. Silently everyone took seats. Izzie and Will sighed as they took their seats, knowing they weren't going anywhere until everyone's curiosity was satisfied.

"Yes, I said Uncle Ned." Izzie said.

"Wait Izzie," Will said and turned to Challenger, "Do you think –putting aside natural curiosity – that it's safe for us to tell you about the future."

Challenger looked startled for a moment, "Well… ummm…. I sup-"

"Their future's written in stone, Will." Izzie said smiling again.

"Stop quoting Mum. And she said that about her and Aunt Ronnie and the whole Plataue-Chosen-One-Protector thing, not about every thing else."

"She said it about Dad and her and about Aunt Ronnie and Uncle Ned, that's pretty much everything else isn't it?" She taunted, not noticing the way the couples in the room sat a little straighter.

"Don't start with me, brat." Will growled.

Izzie gave him a haughty look - reminiscent of there own dark-haired heiress - and turned back to Ned. "That's right. You're Uncle Ned." She shot her brother a heated glare, before turning to Ned again, "What else would you like to know?"

Will rolled his eyes, "Fine. But when we get home. I'm blaming this all on you."

"You're the oldest."

"You're the sneak."

She grinned suddenly, "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Are you two always like this?" Veronica asked.

They looked at her, confused, "Like what?" Will asked.

Veronica shrugged, "You uhhhhh, you bicker..."

Izzie laughed, "That wasn't bickering..."

"You should see Mum and Dad if want bickering..."

"That was just a few cross words."

"Oh," Veronica said softly, "Well in that case... continue." Looking slightly amused at there reaction.

"This is just so wierd... I mean look at them Will..." Izzie gushed suddenly. "They're so young and Aunt Ronnie's like naked and Mum's like... you know... from the stories... and Uncle Ned looks like... like..."

"Like he's twelve..." Will said grinning.

"I thought we weren't supposed to be quoting," Izzie teased.

"We're not supposed to be quoting them to them, we can quote them to ourselves..."

"Who are you quoting?" Ned asked.

"Mum," Izzie said grinning, "She says when she first met you, you looked like a twelve year old..."

Ned's gaze swung to Marguerite, who actually looked a little flushed. His gaze was pointed, waiting for an explanation.

She shrugged, "At least now we know they aren't lying."

"I am not naked!" Veronica said, a little angry.

Izzie giggled, "You are sort of… especially compared to how you usually dress."

"How does she usually dress?" Summerlee asked, leaning forward.

"And ummmm, what was it you said about me and… ummmm… me and…" Ned stuttered a little, glancing nervously at Veronica.

Izzie looked to her brother, "We can tell them a little Will, especially since it's getting too late to travel in the jungle anyway."

Will looked to the balcony, noticing the lowering sun, "Yeah, I guess your right-"

"-I usually am." She said cutting him off with an echo of his earlier words. For her trouble she received a frown before he continued talking.

"We can't tell them too much though, we'll give… we'll just give them a glimpse," he said firmly.

"As you wish, oh, wise one," Izzie said grinning.

"You're beautiful." Roxton said suddenly from across the room. His eyes riveted on his daughter.

She turned her grin to him, "Thank you Daddy. You're quite dashing, yourself."

"Hate to interrupt your moment of mutual admiration, but I should point out that you'd better begin to work on your explanation for when we go home, because I refuse to take the blame for this."

"What exactly are you doing in the jungle alone?" Marguerite asked, her tone still rather aloof, her eyes however, belied her tone.

Will turned to her, "Tomorrow is your fifteenth wedding anniversary and there's a big party…"

"Fifteenth!" Marguerite cried, her eyes wide, "I've been…" she couldn't say the word, "…to himfor… fifteen years!" The disbelief in her voice, caused John to chuckle.

"There are worse fate's my dear," he said wryly, eyeing her with amusement.

She ignored him, "Fifteen years is… it's a long time." She said slowly, meeting Will's eyes.

"It is," he said, smiling softly at her, as if he knew what she was thinking. As if he knew her fears, "They are, though, by your account, good years." He told her, and the way he said it – it was almost as if he was trying to comfort her, to reassure her.

His dark brown eyes were very much like his father's and she could see already that he would be a man worthy of the Roxton name.

"You all got married the same year..." Izzie began, obviously relishing the role of story-teller.

Marguerite let her gaze be drawn to the young girl. She was slim, with same color curls as her brother – same color as their father. But in every other way, it was like looking at an old photograph. The girl was indeed, a spitting image; she had Marguerite's eyes, her features, her smile… Marguerite recognized herself in the girl, just as she could see John in William.

These were her children, her children with Lord John Richard Roxton.

The thought was terrifying. Fifteen years, they'd said.

How could she give a man that much of herself? For that long a time? How could she let a man rule her for that long?

But it's not just any man, a voice reminded her, it's this man. It's John.

And he wouldn't rule her, he'd rule with her. He'd love. He might even love her now. But that wasn't enough… was it?

There was the past; the past that never went away, that never let go. And yet here was living proof… sitting in front of her… that maybe… just maybe… love was enough…

That maybe… the past… could be just that… the past.

She realized suddenly that Izzie was still talking to her, "I'm sorry… what was that?"

The girl blinked at her, before repeating herself a little more slowly, "I said that you all married the same year but you and Dad did it in May while Uncle Ned and Aunt Ronnie did it earlier in January."

"Wai- wait a minute," Veronica said, slowly, "Did you say… that Ned and I… that we were…"

"Are," Will cut her off, "You and he are married."

"Well, that comes as no shock to me." Marguerite said after a moment, "Puppy-love often enough matures into the real thing. Congratulations." She told them, a sardonic twist to her lips, "Too bad we have no champagne, we could've toasted."

"In that case let me offer congratulations to you, Marguerite, on your beautiful children," Ned spit out at her.

"Do not begin to quarrel," Summerlee said firmly, "I believe, my boy, you were just about to tell us why you were in the jungle."

"Let's not interrupt him again," Challenger stated, "We all have questions but we need to proceed in an orderly fashion in order for all them to be answered. Please proceed, Will."

Will smiled, "Thank you Grandpa Geo-" he stopped at George's shocked expression. "We uhhh, we call you Grandpa George." The boy said, suddenly looking a little shy.

Challenger swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat, "Right, right… please proceed…"

Will nodded, "Yeah, okay, so like I said the party's tomorrow. We don't live here on the Plateau anymore, we moved last year, but Mum insisted that she wanted to have her anniversary party here and Dad… well…" Will smirked.

"Always gives in…" Izzie finished for him, shooting her a father a sweet smile.

"Yeah, so we came and we're staying at Avalon. This morning Miss Isabella here decided that she wanted to give Mum the perfect gift. The perfect gift ended up being here in the tree house – or rather our tree house. So we waited until everyone was otherwise occupied… I told Uncle Ned, I wasn't feeling well and didn't want to go to the Conference and we snuck out of the city and into the jungle."

"It was only supposed to take an hour." Izzie complained, "We were walking when we saw this… thing… it was shimmery and a sort of see-through. It stretch out for miles and if we tried to walk around it, we would've added hours to our trip…"

"So instead, the one who's never wrong, decided we should just walk through it," Will said, picking up the story again, "I suppose I'm an even greater idiot for following her, but I did… and nothing really happened. We were still in the jungle, nothing seemed to change much. It wasn't until a mile or so later that we started picking up on the changes, by then it was too late to turn back."

"And here we are." Izzie finished.

"So what you're saying is that we have no idea where you are." John said looking from one to the other.

Will snorted, "What I'm saying is that we're dead raptor. We're never, under any circumstances to enter the jungle without notifying someone."

"Sounds like a good rule," Roxton said.

"It's yours." Izzie told him, smiling.

"Am I going to be upset?" He asked, his smiling daughter, suddenly very curious about his future self.

Her smile vanished. "You're going to be worried."

"Which is why we're dead raptor, our best bet is to get home hurt," he said sullenly.

Izzie nodded, "Yeah, that'll distract everyone for a while."

"Not long enough though," Will added.

"If we get home, really hurt, we might get off the hook completely," Izzie said excitedly, after a moment.

"We are not letting you get hurt." Marguerite snapped suddenly, drawing startled gazes to her.

"Why Marguerite, how very motherly of you," Ned said, smiling.

His words earned him a glare, before the brunette turned to her children, "Why don't you tell us all about Ned and Veronica and their marriage…"

The children exchanged amused glances.

"What was the gift?" John asked before they spoke, "The one you came here to get for Marguerite?"

"For Aunt Ronnie's wedding, Mum took an old dress of her mother's and re-made it. She turned it into a wedding dress. So when Mum was getting married, Aunt Ronnie put together a book for her. The outside is etched with silver and gold and has precious gems in it. It's beautiful, but Mum always the greatest treasure is on the inside. The first item is a newspaper clipping – announcing an expedition to a lost world. The entire book is full of mementos and photographs and pages of Uncle Ned's journals. When we moved Mum left the book behind, because it belongs here on the Plateau she says. But I know that she'd want to see again. She was always flipping through the pages."

"So you set out to get it for her…" Summerlee said softly, "How very sweet of you."

"How very stupid of us," Will grumbled, "Mum is going to have our heads."

"I'd say Daddy will be angrier, Will, or Aunt Ronnie." Izzie argued.

"What is Avalon?" Challenger asked, his intelligent eyes sharp, "You said you were staying at Avalon…"

"Avalon is a city," Will said quickly, as Izzie opened her mouth to respond, he shot her a quick warning look.

"A city here on the Plateau, you must tell us where it is. How do we get there?"

"No!" Will said harshly, startling the explorers, "Questions about Avalon are off limits."

"But young man, if there's a way off…" Summerlee began, but was cut off.

"You'll find it when you're meant to, not a moment sooner."

"Jeez, Will, back off. It was just a question. What does it matter if they know where Avalon is? There going to find it anyway and it's not-"

"Just shut up Isabella," he hissed at her. "You don't know anything, because you never listen."

The girl's eyes widened, and then narrowed, "Do not talk to me like that and I do too listen…"

"Yeah, when Dad's telling you how to track a cannibal or Aunt Ronnie's showing you how to throw a dagger at 20 paces; when people are just talking to you, you don't listen."

"That's not true!"

"Yeah, it is! Because if you listened when they talked you'd realize that Mum and Dad are still years away from getting together and that if they find the way off the Plateau now they probably won't – which means we won't exist."

The girl was silent a moment, "But it's written in stone…"

"Why take our chances?" He asked her.

She sighed, "Fine, but next time you tell me to shut-up like that, I'm going to deck you William."

He said nothing, just glared at her, obviously upset.

"Well," Marguerite drawled, "Aren't you the careful one," she said to her son. He didn't smile, just met her gaze.

"I'm immune to that tactic of persuasion, Mum," he said after a moment, "You taught me how to do it and how to spot it when I was seven."

Marguerite's startled gaze caused the explorer's to chuckle.

"Well, my dear, it seems you might have met your match." Summerlee said affectionately.

Marguerite huffed, "I doubt it."

Will seemed to relax a little, "Don't worry Mum, the secrets of the trade are safe with us."

"What trade?" Ned asked, never one to waste an opportunity for information on the mysterious Ms. Krux.

"Don't worry, Uncle Ned, you'll know – one day." Will said smiling.

"Well if your going to give us a glimpse, could you get started on it already," Marguerite snapped.

Veronica nodded, "What year is it that we… that all of us… you said we all got… uhhhh…"

Izzie laughed, "This is just so cute. I mean none of you can even say it yet…"

Will too was grinning now, "You and Uncle Ned get married January of 1923," he told Veronica, "… and Mum and Dad get married May of the same year."

'Yeah, and in November Layton's born." Izzie commented.

Will rolled his eyes, "Shu-"

Izzie arched an eyebrow at him, a gesture that was perhaps a little too mature for the girl but that served it's purpose very well in reminding her brother of her curt warning.

"Could you please be careful of what you say," he said to her instead through clenched teeth.

She smiled at him, "Certainly, big brother … but I don't see the harm in telling them about Layton or any of us for that matter…"

"Who… who's Layton?" Ned asked, his voice suddenly hoarse.

Izzie demurely looked to Will before she answered, he scowled at her, knowing that no matter what he said she was going to answer Ned's question, "Layton is your oldest child. Layton Edward Malone, he's fifteen and is going to sorely disappointed that he missed out on this adventure."

Will nodded, "It should be Layton here and not me, remind again why you begged me to help you in this instead of your usual partner in crime."

Izzie didn't even glance at her brother, "What the complainer is trying to say is that it's usually Layton and I that end up getting in these little uhhhh… jams. But this time I asked Will because I figured since the gift was for his mother, he'd like to participate. If I'd known he was going to be such a pain in the ass…"

"Don't be crude, Izzie," Will corrected immediately.

"Not your concern Willy," she said, it was the first time they'd heard the pet name and the adults had to quickly hide smiles as Willy turned a fierce scowl towards his sister.

"It is, because the day after your coming-out ball I'm selling you to the highest bidder and a dirty mouth might affect your overall value."

The adults gasped - all except Marguerite - but instead of being offended Izzie grinned at him, "Come now, dear brother, you and I both know that am quite priceless… plus I've already got my husband selected."

At this Will burst out into laughter, not giggle or chuckles, but full throated laughter. Izzie glared at him, "It's not funny William." She said, heatedly.

His laughter continued, and he took deep breaths as he tried to bring it under control.

"Well by all means share the joke," John said happily.

"It is not a joke." Izzie stated.

"Izzie's future husband…" Will said between deep breaths, "… is Layton." He finished.

Slowly, smiles spread across the faces of the explorers. Sweet smiles and it was finally Veronica who said gently, "You have a crush on him…."

Izzie turned a familiar haughty expression to Veronica, and it suddenly dawned on the explorers that this girl had all of Marguerite's facial expressions down pat. The realization struck Marguerite as well and she couldn't stop the smothered laugh that escaped her.

It drew Roxton's gaze to her, and she held it for a moment --before focusing on Izzie again.

"It is not a joke or a crush. Layton will be my husband. He thinks it's a joke too, but I know it isn't. He's never going to find anyone more perfect for him than me." The child spoke so firmly that suddenly the explorers weren't smiling anymore, because suddenly there wasn't a doubt in their minds that indeed, Layton would one day marry this girl – and the poor chap would never see it coming.

Will though, still laughed, "Well he's already started looking…"

Izzie shrugged, "It doesn't matter. He won't find anyone."

"How old are you?" Summerlee asked, quietly admiring the young girl.

"Twelve, and Will's fourteen."

Roxton chuckled, shaking his head ruefully, "And you're my kids with Marguerite," he said, drawing out every word, wonder still filling his voice.

The twogrinned at him, "Not you're only kids though…" Izzie said, smiling.

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